Cotter pin spreading pliers



Nov. 9, 1954 w. E. COONAN 2,693,726

COTTER PIN SPREADING PLIERS Filed March 14, 1951 INVENTOR. WAQREN E. Coomm BYM A T roe/vav 2,693,726 "Pa-tented N-v..9, 1954 United States Patent Ofifice This invention relates to new :and improved .tools,

:particularly of the .pivoted jawtype "and having .for the principal purpose thereof the opening of the ends of cotter pins so as to prevent escape thereof from whatever hole or aperture they may be applied to, and including means for extracting the distorted, open cotter pins in a quick and simple manner.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a pair of jaws and means to move the jaws toward each other, one of said jaws being provided with a recess receiving and holding the closed end or eye of a conventional cotter pin and the other jaw being provided with a bill having a narrow edge to cooperate with the first named jaw to separate the cotter pin legs easily and quickly, the narrow edge of the bill extending in the plane of the relative motion of the two jaws, and being of a wedge shape in section, thus providing a pair of angled surfaces which diverge in a direction away from the narrow edge, the angles of said surfaces being unequal and in fact one of said surfaces being substantially parallel to the plane of motion of the jaws but gradually widening laterally outwardly to form a thicker base for the bill and to ensure the separation of the cotter pin legs well past the point of deformation, to the end that the conventional cotter pin which has one leg longer than the other may be quickly and easily operated upon as described with the longer leg thereof positioned against the above described side surface that is located at an angle which is more acute relative to the plane of motion of the jaws.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a spike or the like on one of the jaws positioned in such a way as to be engageable with the eye of a cotter pin and being capable of exerting a greatly increased movement of force thereon to easily extract the cotter pin without the necessity of straightening the legs prior to the extraction.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawmgs in which Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a tool according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in elevation showing the jaws of the tool and looking in the direction of arrow 2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 illustrates the cotter pin removing device in operation;

Fig. 5 illustrates the leg construction of the tool;

Fig. 6 illustrates a modification of one jaw;

Fig. 7 shows a modification of the cooperating jaw; and

Fig. 8 is a view in end elevation of the jaw of Fig. 7.

The present tool is shown as having a pair of legs 10 and 12 interpivoted at 14 by any desired means and capable of relative adjustment by means of the multiple recess slot 16 which receives the stud 14 in any position therein.

The member 12 is provided with a bill generally indicated at 18 and the member 10 is provided with a reversely extending head or jaw member 20. The bill and the jaw member 20 comprise a pair of jaws which are movable toward and from each other as will be clear.

The jaw member 20 is provided with a generally fiat surface at 22 containing a recess 24 at the free end thereof, recess 24 extending inwardly from the extreme end of the jaw-and forming a holder or the like surface for the eye of a cotter inafter.

Bill 18 is wedge-shaped as s'hown in Fig. Z'and presents a relatively narrow sharp edge indicated at 26,

pin as will-be more apparentherethis edge lying intermediate the side edges ,of the tool and cooperating with recess 24 and extending in'a plane parallel to or included in the'planeof the'relative'movement of the two jaw menibers20 and 18.

One of the side surfaces going tomake up the bill is indicated at 28 and the other is indicated *atf30, the

latter lying at asharper or 'more acuteanglerelative to the above named plane-of relative *motion of =thejaws, and extending laterally outwardly as at 32 to form a comparatively wide lateral abutment which, however, is approached gradually from the acute surface 30. The surface 30 may actually start from edge 28 parallel to the aw motion or even reversely angled with respect thereto.

The surface 28 is located generally on a greater angle with respect to the center line of the bill as clearly seen in Fig. 2, and terminates at 34 at a point somewhat above the termination of the abutment 32.

When it is desired to open a cotter pin, the tool is set to the desired relative distance between the jaw members; the head of the cotter pin is set in recesses 24 with the longer leg of the cotter pin extending downwardly, on surface 30, see Fig. 2, past the narrow edge 26. Of course, before pressure is applied, the shorter leg of the cotter pin will not extend past edge 26 but the sharp edge tends to enter between the legs of the cotter pin as will be apparent. When pressure is applied, the tool will easily separate the legs to deform the cotter pin in the desired manner and this action will be seen to be quick and easy, the cotter pin always being easily accessible because of the relative arrangement of the recess and the bill, particularly as to the fact that they are located at the extreme ends of the jaws and the narrow edge 26 lies in the plane of relative motion of the members.

Wire cutting edges 36 may be applied to the jaws if desired, and this enhances the use of the tool to a great extent, the wire cutting edges being usable to close the legs in the cotter pin.

Referring now to the sharp pointed element 38, see Fig. 4, this element may be inserted in the eye at 40 of a cotter pin 42 in a member 44, and upon rotating the entire tool in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4, the curved surface 46 of the jaw 20 acts as a fulcrum so that the cotter pin is quickly and easily withdrawn without even the necessity of closing the legs, because a greatly increased force is exertable in this manner.

The legs 10 and 12 have extensions 11 and 13 respectively, each of the latter being pivotally secured by means of toothed clutch face plates or the like indicated at 48 and having bolt means or the like 50 for tightening the same as desired so that the extensions 11 and 13 may be extended at an angle to the legs 10 and 12 as clearly indicated in Fig. 5 for getting around corners and into tight places and still are able to actuate the cotter pin separating and extracting means.

Reference is had to Figs. 6, 7 and 8 wherein the jaw 20 and the bill 18 are provided with flat surfaces 52. In this case separable shoes 54 and 56 are provided, the shoe 54 having a recess 57 like that at 24 and a sharp cutting edge 58 cooperating with similar edge 60 on the shoe 56. The latter is also provided with the narrow edge 62 comparable to that at 26 and the side surfaces 64 and 66 comparable to surfaces 30 and 28 respectively. The removable shoes 54 and 56 may accomplish the same purpose as above described, but are usable on conventional water pump pliers or the like and may be taken off for conventional use of the pliers, being used for actuating cotter pins only occasionally. Screws 68 are used to hold the shoes in place.

It will be seen that this invention provides a very simple but eflicient and useful cotter pin applying and removal tool which may also be used to close the cotter pins, to cut wire, etc. It will be noted that the bill just below the edge 26 is extremely narrow and made in such a way as to fully ensure the opening of the cotter pin when used as described.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, 1 do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is: w

1. A tool comprising a pair of movable members and means to move the members toward each other, a bill on one member, said bill having a narrow edge in the plane of movement of the members, a concave surface at each side of the narrow edge retreating therefrom at an angle thereto, one of said surfaces being at a more acute angle relative to said plane than the other surface, and being substantially tangent to the plane at said narrow edge.

2. The tool of claim 1 wherein the surface'at the more acute angle is longer than the other.

References Cited in the file of this patent Number Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Melovs May 8, Seipel Oct. 28, Hughes May 8, Wilder Nov. 4, Anekee Nov. 25, Dulin July 28, Edwards June 2, Grosvenor June 8, Dandeneau Nov. 15, Beach June 13, Hansen July 5, Boel et al. Oct. 16,

FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Dec. 4, 

